If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

On Thursday, there was a report that the Cardinals requested permission to interview Todd Haley for their head coaching position.

The Steelers canít block Haley from taking the interview, but Haley can turn down the opportunity himself. According to Ed Werder of ESPN, Haley might wind up doing just that.

Per Werder, Haley has yet to agree to the interview because ďhe loves working forĒ the Steelers. It was a rocky first year for Haley in the role as he and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger never quite seemed to see eye to eye on the best way to run the offense.

Haley had a positive experience coordinating an offense run by Kurt Warner in Arizona before a somewhat less positive experience as the head coach of a Kansas City team quarterbacked by Matt Cassel. Given that, you can understand reticence about leaping into a muddled, to put it mildly, quarterback situation in Arizona even if things werenít all that smooth in Pittsburgh.

I'm beginning to have mixed feelings on this.
Offense looked OK in the beginning when the OL wasn't in shambles.
More and more I'm starting to accept that a really bad OL has been our nemesis.
BA was predictable as hell though.

I'm beginning to have mixed feelings on this.
Offense looked OK in the beginning when the OL wasn't in shambles.
More and more I'm starting to accept that a really bad OL has been our nemesis.
BA was predictable as hell though.

Does it matter if you're fairly predictable if the other team can't stop it? I think the OL problems were probably more of the issue, though I could be wrong...

I'm beginning to have mixed feelings on this.
Offense looked OK in the beginning when the OL wasn't in shambles.
More and more I'm starting to accept that a really bad OL has been our nemesis.
BA was predictable as hell though.

I don't know if anyone else saw the Colts - Ratbirds game but watching Luck in the Indy offense sure brought back some memories. You would see Luck drop back to pass and it was either a wide receiver screen or he would stand in that pocket forever waiting for his receivers to complete their routes. The guy took one helluva beating in that game.

Now back to the topic at hand. I wasn't real happy when they hired Haley. I thought he took the credit for other's work ... Whiz in Arizona and Weiss in KC. But he surprised me and by the time we beat the Giants I was really digging his offense. It seemed to frustrate the opponents defense with the way we converted 3d down after 3rd down. We started to get a little creative with our passing inside the 10 yard line instead of running the back up the middle for 2 plays and then throwing an alley oop to one of our undersized receivers.

Ben was staying clean and playing like an MVP, the line was starting to get confident, our TE was becoming unstoppable and then the next wave of injuries hit. We never seemed to recover from those injuries. I'd really like Haley to stick around so I can see him complete what he started with this offense. I think he can make it one of the best in the league.

The 3rd down conversion rate was great but I'm not sure if that was Haley or Ben... or both. Early in the year it didn't matter what the distance was... Ben was completing the pass to keep the chains moving but did we score a ton of points? Not really... did we make teams pay when we got the occasional TO... no.

Hopefully these things improve...

The one knock I had on Indy was the empty backfield on 4th and 2. That's an Arians staple I don't miss. No threat to run to keep the D honest. WTF?

The real problem with Indy is young players... they didn't look ready for playoff football and it showed. Ray Rice gave them a few chances too. Sure, you can knock Arians for a few things but we watched Indy play a playoff game and have a shot at advancing.